Shane Alexander, 2nd Earl Alexander of Tunis

British hereditary peer (born 1935)

The Right Honourable The Earl Alexander of Tunis

Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office 16 June 1969 – 11 November 1999
Preceded by	The 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis
Succeeded by	Seat abolished ^[a]

Personal details
Born	Shane William Desmond Alexander (1935-06-30) 30 June 1935 (age 88)
Spouses	Hilary Van Geest (m. 1971; div. 1976) Davina Mary Woodhouse (m. 1981)
Parents	Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis Lady Margaret Bingham

Shane William Desmond Alexander, 2nd Earl Alexander of Tunis (born 30 June 1935), styled Lord Rideau between 1952 and 1969, is a British hereditary peer.

He was a member of the House of Lords from 1969 until 1999.

Biography

Alexander is the elder son of Field Marshal Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, and his wife, Lady Margaret Bingham (1905–1977), daughter of George Bingham, 5th Earl of Lucan. He was educated at Harrow School, Ashbury College in Canada (while his father was Governor-General), and the Mons Officer Cadet School. On 14 August 1954, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Irish Guards. On 16 June 1969, he succeeded his father in the earldom, following his death.

Alexander served as a Lord-in-waiting from 8 January 1974 until 4 March 1974, at the end of Edward Heath's premiership.^[1] He has also been a director of the Pathfinder Financial Corporation (firm.dissolved 1988) in Toronto in 1980.

He was a member of the House of Lords from 1969 until the House of Lords Act 1999 came into force in November of that year.

As a male line descendant of the Earls of Caledon, he is also in the remainder to that title and was the heir presumptive from 1980 to 1990.

Marriages and children

Alexander married firstly Hilary van Geest on 14 July 1971. They were divorced in 1976 without having had any children.

He married secondly The Honourable Davinia Mary Woodhouse, daughter of David Woodhouse, 4th Baron Terrington, on 22 July 1981. She is a former lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. They have two daughters:^{[citation needed]}

Lady Rose Margaret Alexander (born 23 April 1982), a god-daughter of Princess Margaret, who married James Hardinge Houssemayne Du Boulay on 6 February 2015 and has issue;^{[citation needed]}
Lady Lucy Caroline Alexander (born 1984), who married James Agar, 7th Earl of Normanton, in June 2012 and has issue.^{[citation needed]}

As Alexander has no son, the heir presumptive to the earldom is his younger brother, the Honourable Brian James Alexander, CMG (born 1939). He is the last person in line to succeed to the earldom and subsidiary titles.

Notes

^ Under the House of Lords Act 1999.

References

^ Butler, D. & Butler, G. (1994) British Political Facts 1900−1994. 7th edn. Basingstoke and London: The Macmillan Press, p. 35.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl Alexander of Tunis
A photograph of Lord Alexander of Tunis en route to school in 1948 in La Patrie (a French-language Montreal daily, now defunct).

Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Harold Alexander	Earl Alexander of Tunis 1969–present Member of the House of Lords (1969–1999)	Incumbent Heir presumptive: Hon. Brian Alexander
	Viscount Alexander of Tunis 1969–present
	Baron Rideau 1969–present

Current earls in the peerages of Britain and Ireland

Sorted by (historical) entity at time of grant

England

Scotland

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Kingdom of Ireland	Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 22nd Earl of Waterford John Boyle, 15th Earl of Cork William Anthony Nugent, 13th Earl of Westmeath John Brabazon, 15th Earl of Meath Alexander Feilding, 11th Earl of Desmond Roger Lambart, 13th Earl of Cavan John Boyle, 15th Earl of Orrery Derry Moore, 12th Earl of Drogheda Peter Forbes, 10th Earl of Granard Ivo Bligh, 12th Earl of Darnley Myles Ponsonby, 12th Earl of Bessborough Thomas Butler, 11th Earl of Carrick Henry Boyle, 10th Earl of Shannon Arthur Gore, 9th Earl of Arran Patrick Stopford, 9th Earl of Courtown John Savile, 8th Earl of Mexborough David Turnour, 8th Earl Winterton Robert King-Tenison, 12th Earl of Kingston Robert Jocelyn, 10th Earl of Roden David Vaughan, 9th Earl of Lisburne Patrick Meade, 8th Earl of Clanwilliam Randal McDonnell, 10th Earl of Antrim Thomas Pakenham, 8th Earl of Longford George Dawson-Damer, 7th Earl of Portarlington Charles Bourke, 11th Earl of Mayo Michael Annesley, 12th Earl Annesley Andrew Cole, 7th Earl of Enniskillen John Crichton, 7th Earl Erne George Bingham, 8th Earl of Lucan John Lowry-Corry, 8th Earl Belmore Andrew Stuart, 9th Earl Castle Stewart Nicholas Alexander, 7th Earl of Caledon Richard Hely-Hutchinson, 8th Earl of Donoughmore
After 1801	Edmund Pery, 7th Earl of Limerick Nicholas Trench, 9th Earl of Clancarty Brendan Parsons, 7th Earl of Rosse Charles Acheson, 7th Earl of Gosford Shaun Agar, 6th Earl of Normanton Richard Needham, 6th Earl of Kilmorey Francis Hare, 6th Earl of Listowel Richard Graham-Toler, 7th Earl of Norbury Edward Knox, 8th Earl of Ranfurly

Kingdom of Ireland

After 1801

United
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King George III	Peter St Clair-Erskine, 7th Earl of Rosslyn Benjamin Craven, 9th Earl of Craven Rupert Onslow, 8th Earl of Onslow Julian Marsham, 8th Earl of Romney John Pelham, 9th Earl of Chichester Francis Grosvenor, 8th Earl of Wilton John Herbert, 8th Earl of Powis Simon Nelson, 10th Earl Nelson Philip Kent Grey, 7th Earl Grey William Lowther, 9th Earl of Lonsdale Conroy Ryder, 8th Earl of Harrowby
Prince Regent	David Lascelles, 8th Earl of Harewood Timothy Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 7th Earl of Minto Charles Cathcart, 7th Earl Cathcart John Grimston, 7th Earl of Verulam Albert Eliot, 11th Earl of St Germans Mark Parker, 7th Earl of Morley Richard Bridgeman, 7th Earl of Bradford
King George IV	John Scott, 6th Earl of Eldon Frederick Curzon, 7th Earl Howe Keith Rous, 6th Earl of Stradbroke James Temple-Gore-Langton, 9th Earl Temple of Stowe Colin Campbell, 7th Earl Cawdor
King William IV	Thomas Anson, 6th Earl of Lichfield Edward Lambton, 7th Earl of Durham Fergus Leveson-Gower, 6th Earl Granville Edward Howard, 8th Earl of Effingham David Moreton, 7th Earl of Ducie Charles Pelham, 8th Earl of Yarborough
Queen Victoria	Thomas Coke, 8th Earl of Leicester Anthony Noel, 6th Earl of Gainsborough William Byng, 9th Earl of Strafford Mark Pepys, 9th Earl of Cottenham Graham Wellesley, 8th Earl Cowley David Ward, 5th Earl of Dudley Hugh Montgomerie, 7th Earl of Winton John Russell, 7th Earl Russell John Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Cromartie John Wodehouse, 5th Earl of Kimberley Richard Wortley, 5th Earl of Wharncliffe Simon Cairns, 6th Earl Cairns John Lytton, 5th Earl of Lytton William Palmer, 5th Earl of Selborne John Northcote, 5th Earl of Iddesleigh Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 5th Earl of Cranbrook
King Edward VII	Evelyn Baring, 4th Earl of Cromer Ivor Windsor-Clive, 4th Earl of Plymouth Edward Foljambe, 5th Earl of Liverpool
King George V	Neil Primrose, 3rd Earl of Midlothian Michael Hicks Beach, 3rd Earl St Aldwyn David Beatty, 3rd Earl Beatty Alexander Haig, 3rd Earl Haig Edward Guinness, 4th Earl of Iveagh Roderick Balfour, 5th Earl of Balfour Raymond Asquith, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith Patrick Jellicoe, 3rd Earl Jellicoe Peter Mackay, 4th Earl of Inchcape William Peel, 3rd Earl Peel
King George VI	Simon Bowes-Lyon, 6th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne Benedict Baldwin, 5th Earl Baldwin of Bewdley Peter Wood, 3rd Earl of Halifax Brer Ruthven, 3rd Earl of Gowrie David Lloyd George, 4th Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor Norton Knatchbull, 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Queen Elizabeth II	Shane Alexander, 2nd Earl Alexander of Tunis Mark Cunliffe-Lister, 4th Earl of Swinton John Attlee, 3rd Earl Attlee Simon Marquis, 3rd Earl of Woolton David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon Alexander Macmillan, 2nd Earl of Stockton